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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not want to turn up in a foreign country with no cash, just card ?

115 replies

Lemonadedrinker99 · 30/06/2019 10:23

Every time we go abroad H insists we don't take any cash, instead we just take a pre-loaded card (which we can top up as and when during the holiday). How can a family with children turn up abroad with zero cash ? we need to get taxi's to/from the airport as a starter. He argues there are cash points out there, yes there will be but what if the neartest cash point is either out of order, run out of cash or charges £5 a go (which is what we have found in the past) to get cash (plus our banks currency charge). We've had a massive row this morning when I asked him what currency we need to take. He went into one saying he will sort the money side out and i dont need to waste money paying to get the currency in the uk.

Just to add for context ...

a) last year he went to get cash out of the cash machine abroad and it wanted to charge him the equivalent of £5 to draw cash - the money was needed for a boat trip where it was cash only on the boat for drinks/snax. Luckily i had the small stash i took with me that we could use
b) we once arrived abroad with no cash (his idea) and the airport cash machine was broken, so was the hotel one. The nearest one was a 30 minute walk away each way, which H did.
c) earlier this year while in the States we trugged for what seemed like ages to try to find a 'free' cash point. No idea if he found a free one in the end or just ended up paying the withdrawal fee - the fee would have been the same if we had brought currency in the UK, and much easier and less time consuming too
d) the pre-loaded card doesn't always work - we have an app to xfer cash onto the card, he ALWAYS tried to xfer the cash to the card in a way that doesn't work. Earlier this year he tried to xfer £100 while abroad, the xfer failed (because the way he was doing it is wrong, but he wont accept it), he tried it 5 times in the end. The money left our 'available' balance, but never left the account or reached the card, and we had to wait 5 days for £500 to go back onto our 'available' bank account balance

OP posts:
RingtheBells · 30/06/2019 15:37

He sounds very controlling, is the pre loaded card in his name

Horsemenoftheaclopalypse · 30/06/2019 15:57

My DP is like this.
I can’t be bothered with it so I just get cash out now, normally about £50 in small change.

It just irritates me when I can’t have a bottle of water or a pack of gum because “they don’t get card”
It’s a small village up a mountain of course they don’t take MasterCard!!! Angry

Thefemalekeithrichards · 30/06/2019 16:05

CBA with that I love having a Tony Soprano type wad of cash with me why make life hard esp on holiday ??

Horsemenoftheaclopalypse · 30/06/2019 16:15

He has aspergers, social anxiety and other diagnosed conditions. But he is so argumentative and determined with the no cash thing, its draining.

Waaah I should have read the full thread he is NOT like this. He just worries about losing cash!

PetrichorRain · 30/06/2019 16:18

I travel a lot for work and very rarely bother getting money out before I get to my destination. I have a corporate card and I just use that once I arrive. In saying that, I often have euros or dollars left over from the last trip so I will have a little cash on me.

However he sounds a bit of a knob, being nasty because you asked one small question.

BrightYellowDaffodil · 30/06/2019 16:56

It's always easier to have some cash (preferably small notes) when you get there so exchanging currency is something you can do a bit later on, but it's not always possible. Some countries have closed currencies - meaning that you can't get the currency outside of the country, nor are you supposed to take it out when you leave - so you have to exchange on arrival. It's a bit more of a faff but for some places it's the norm.

museumum · 30/06/2019 17:02

I usually get a small bit of cash out at either the departure or arrival airport. (Our departure airport has machines that give £ $ or €). But I get why you’d want to take some but you know your dh doesn’t so why didn’t you google the currency needed yourselfrather than ask him?

okeydokeygirl · 30/06/2019 17:17

Just check out the currency yourself and get some cash out anyway. We went to Croatia last summer and lots of places did not take cards at all. Went to New York at Easter with just cash and some places and activities would only take cards so I was a bit stuffed. Luckily I was staying with family so they could pay and I gave them the cash. . Best to always take mix of cash and card so you have options. Have a lovely holiday.

QueenofPain · 30/06/2019 17:22

Just get some cash out yourself and ignore the buffoon that you’ve married.

I had a revolut card on a recent trip to the Netherlands, could use it to withdraw cash from a cash point but card machines didn’t accept it. I completely lost track of the conversion rates going backwards and forwards withdrawing cash so could have been costly to me (I’ve just no idea if it was as I was having a great time and decided not to care). I still took a cash float of about €150 with me which was handy for bottle of water here and there or for public transport, a single coffee, etc.

drsausage · 30/06/2019 17:26

c) earlier this year while in the States we trugged for what seemed like ages to try to find a 'free' cash point. No idea if he found a free one in the end or just ended up paying the withdrawal fee - the fee would have been the same if we had brought currency in the UK, and much easier and less time consuming too

In 12 years of living here I don't think I've ever found an ATM in the US that doesn't have a withdrawal fee. My US bank refunds all my withdrawal fees so I just accept them all. In Las Vegas casinos they charge a $10 withdrawal fee and dispense the cash in $100 bills :-D

monkeytimesthree · 30/06/2019 17:32

That's a really stupid attitude on his part. I have been at the mercy of ATMs in Spain and Mexico and at the latter I nearly missed my flight because I needed physical cash for an airport fee you had to pay...

floraloctopus · 30/06/2019 17:36

Just take some $ or Euros - everywhere accepts one or the other on the whole. I've only come across one place (a local museum) in one country which wouldn't take them.

listsandbudgets · 30/06/2019 17:37

YANBU.

We once turned up in Amsterdam to find that for some reason there was a massive cash machine outage at the airport.

DP had no Euros. Luckily, I had 125 so we were able to get a taxi which was a lot more than many could

Get some local currency.

Apolloanddaphne · 30/06/2019 17:41

My DH travels abroad a lot with work and never takes cash with him. When we go away together I like to have some local currency so I go get some before we go. We have never argued about this. He does his thing and I do mine.

PancakeAndKeith · 30/06/2019 18:37

Just take some $ or Euros - everywhere accepts one or the other on the whole.

That’s a dreadful attitude and hugely wrong.

1300cakes · 01/07/2019 00:19

It depends on where I'm going, but I never bring cash. Getting it out at the atm is definitely the cheapest way, yes the atm might have fees but so does any currency exchange place and the atm has better rates. BUT that's me, my DH prefers cash so that's what he brings and that's fine with me. I would no more care about that than I would look through his bag and say he's bringing the wrong underwear or the book he's bringing is boring.

Just go and get cash and don't mention it.

floraloctopus · 01/07/2019 06:02

Just take some $ or Euros - everywhere accepts one or the other on the whole.

That’s a dreadful attitude and hugely wrong.

What's wrong with it ?

I've never been to a country that doesn't accept one or another, I've been to over 30 different countries in and out of Europe and the US and they are keen to have foreign currency.

user1480880826 · 01/07/2019 06:26

Your husband is horrible and controlling. I hope he doesn’t ruin your holiday.

HopelesslydevotedtoGu · 01/07/2019 06:35

I take some cash (not necessarily in local currency) in case of card failure. I had this once and needed some cash whilst contacting my bank in UK and waiting for issue to be fixed. I don't exchange in advance as only use it if emergency - but good to not have an empty purse.

Rather than a prepaid card get an account like Revolute or Monzo which doesn't charge you fees for using overseas and uses real exchange rate. Very easy to top up on your phone.

VivienneHolt · 01/07/2019 06:53

Yeah, he’s definitely being a twat. I get that it’s daft to take a lot of cash, but a sensible amount for emergencies is sensible.

PancakeAndKeith · 01/07/2019 07:39

I’ve never been to a country that doesn't accept one or another

Good luck paying in Tesco with Dollars.

It’s an arrogant, colonial attitude.

Alarae · 01/07/2019 09:05

I predominantly use card when abroad (Halifax Clarity/Tandem, so no currency exchange fees) however I will always take a small amount of cash with me in the beginning for incidentals in case I can't get to a cash point.

Just covers all bases and exchanging some currency beforehand probably costs be £2 at most in exchange. That's cheap for a bit of piece of mind.

Shoxfordian · 01/07/2019 09:09

It seems like a weird issue for your dh to be so aggressive about, take cash yourself anyway and tell him he's being ridiculous

stucknoue · 01/07/2019 09:12

Personally I do exactly what your husband says, except I don't bother with the preloaded card either. Obviously it depends on where but I've been overseas and not had any currency at all, just used cards. Not saying it's the cheapest way but it sure is convenient

ChihuahuaMummy1 · 01/07/2019 09:13

We're the other way.We take cash and keep most of it in the safe along with card for emergencies

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